1,720,975 research outputs found
On the interpretation of inflected subject clitics
No full textThis paper discusses the distribution of subject clitics in nominal copular constructions in the variety of Este (PD) which is a partial pro-drop language where null subjects alternate with subject proclitics: when a postverbal subject NP is present, no subject clitic is allowed with lexical verbs. However, subject proclitics are allowed with postverbal subjects in inverse copular sentences where the postverbal NP agrees with both the copula and the subject proclitic. This paper explores the available discourse semantic interpretations of inverse copular sentences resulting by this inflectional pattern: while the preverbal predicative NP is a topicalized intensional element that instantiates a description, the postverbal NP represents new information. The preverbal predicative NP does not refer to an entity, but to a property representing the subset that includes the postverbal subject NP which a focal element introduced, just in this configuration, by a subject proclitic
Dislocazioni a destra interrogative tra grammatica e discorso
No full textThis article deals with clitic right dislocation (CLRD) structures. The interface examination of the interpretative, syntactic and prosodic properties of CLRDs shows that these constructions can be ordered on a scale based to a minor or greater degree of prosodic and syntactic integration between verb and post-verbal object. This scale of integration is based on the hypothesis that the different dislocations are part of a complex system of resources for the post-verbal expression of topic and focus categories. Crucially, the study shows that in interrogative CLRDs the clitic resumes an accessible referent which is also focal, manifesting the greater intersubjective attitude of the speaker. The work is based on the analysis of spoken data mostly taken from the CLIPS corpus
The syntax of peripheral adverbial clauses
Full text linkThis paper explores the relation between the interpretations of while in English and mentre in Italian introducing adverbial clauses. Central while/mentre clauses express a temporal/aspectual modification of the proposition in the host clause. Peripheral while/mentre clauses make accessible a proposition from the discourse context enhancing the relevance of the host proposition. In one approach, clauses introduced by adversative while/mentre are analyzed as 'less integrated' with the associated clause than those introduced by temporal while/mentre. In another approach, adverbial clauses introduced by adversative while/mentre are considered not syntactically integrated with the host clause. This paper re-examines the nature of the syntactic integration of the adverbial clauses with the host clause, revealing a parallelism between the adversative peripheral while/mentre clauses and speaker-related sentential adverbs, leading to the conclusion that the non-integration analysis is not appropriate for this type of peripheral clauses and that any analysis must be aligned with that of the relevant non-clausal adverbials, supporting Frey (2018, 2020a, b). We also argue that central adverbial clauses recycled as speech event modifiers must be considered non-integrated. Concretely, we propose that they are integrated in discourse, through a specialized layer FrameP (Haegeman & Greco 2018)
The Acquisition of Italian Discourse Markers as a Function of Studying Abroad
No full textThis paper investigates the effect of a period of study in Italy on the use of discourse markers (DMs) by Belgian–Dutch learners of Italian as a second language (L2). We recorded dialogical exchanges between 8 Belgian–Dutch learners of L2 Italian, before and after an Erasmus exchange of 6 months in an Italian university. The results of our investigation reveal that, both pre- and post-Erasmus, the most used DMs are sì ‘yes’, ok, allora ‘so, then’, quindi ‘then, therefore’, dunque ‘therefore’, be’ ‘well’. Our research also shows that the main effect of the period of study abroad is the increased variation of the pragmatic functions of DMs used by the L2 speakers. Whereas before the Erasmus, DMs are employed almost exclusively with an interactional function, after the Erasmus their spectrum of functions is broaden to cognitive and the meta-discursive functions. Interestingly, we also observe that after the Erasmus, some DMs are used with different non-target functions: we argue that these uses must be analyzed as interferences with the learners’ language background. We conclude the paper with some remarks on the effect of the period of study abroad on L2 fluency, analyzing the clustering of DMs with filled pauses
Italian discourse markers : the case of guarda te*
Full text linkThis paper offers a detailed analysis of the expression guarda te lit. 'look you' in regional Italian of Veneto. Firstly, we show that guarda te is a discourse marker that can have two distinct interpretations associated with different syntactic behaviors and prosodic contours. Secondly, we explain the evolution of guarda te as a discourse marker in terms of a process of syntacticization. In particular, we argue that guarda te has different interpretive and syntactic properties depending on the structural position it occupies in the clausal spine within the Speech Act layer above ForceP
Verb-based discourse markers in Italian : guarda, vedi, guarda te, vedi te
No full textThis research deals with verb-based discourse markers in the regional Italian of Veneto: guarda (te) ‘look you’, vedi (te) ‘see you’. We show that these markers differ in terms of functions and syntactic features. We argue that the functions differ depending on the discourse markers’ syntactic position: some functions can be realized only in the left periphery, while others can be realized in both peripheries. When in the left periphery, the discourse markers express the speaker’s attitude, have their own illocutionary force and are much more independent from the preceding linguistic context. Conversely, the discourse markers that can be realized in both peripheries seem to have a reinforcement and interactional role, being strictly dependent on the dialogical context
Italian echo-questions at the interface
No full textThis paper investigates the prosodic, semantic and syntactic properties of fronted wh-echo questions (FWhEQs) in Italian, comparing them to information seeking wh-questions (WhQs). Results from a production experiment showed that the two differ prosodically: FWhEQs start low, rise later (the pitch accent was realized on the verb participle) and end with a high boundary tone, whereas WhQs in most of the cases start with a rise, followed by a small plateau and end with a rise or a low F0. At the syntactic level we argue that a FWhEQ moves as a whole to the specifier of a TopicP within a higher superordinate ForceP. At the semantic level, we propose that FWhEQs differ from regular WhQs in that they express a meta speech act: with a FWhEQ the speaker asks the addressee to repeat an assertion. We formalize this idea arguing that the movement of the whole ForceP to a higher ForceP, together with the obligatory final rising intonation, activates a REQUEST operator in the superordinate ForceP. The REQUEST operator is a meta speech act as it applies to another speech act, rather than to a sentence radical
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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